Tupolev I-4

Tupolev I-4 (ANT-5)
Type:	Fighter plane
Design country:	Soviet Union
Manufacturer:	Tupolev / ZAGI
First flight:	July 1927
Commissioning:	1928
Production time:	1928 to 1934
Number of pieces:	371

The Tupolew I-4 ( Russian Туполев И-4 ), also known as ANT-5 (АНТ-5), was a single-engine, single - seat, one-and-a- half - decker . It was developed in the second half of the 1920s and was used as a fighter by the Soviet Air Force until 1938 .

development

Responsible for the design was Pavel Sukhoi , head of a development team of AGOS, a special unit of ZAGI that Andrei Tupolev shelter.

Two prototypes were built, the first with a Jupiter VI engine, the second with a Jupiter IV engine, both from the French manufacturer Gnôme-Rhône . The model's maiden flight took place in July 1927, and after state testing had ended, it was decided in December of the same year to put the aircraft into series production. Before this began on October 25, 1928, some changes were made to the tail unit. In the course of production, the Jupiter engine was switched to the Soviet license version M-22 .

Series production ended in 1934 after 371 machines. They were used in the fighter squadrons and after 1938 in the training units.

Two I-4s on the Sweno project on the wing of a TB-1

A few special versions were tested, for example the I-4bis in 1931 without the lower wing and with slats on the upper wing. The I-4 used in 1929 for the Sweno piggyback project was shortened by 0.5 m on each side of the lower wing. Another aircraft experimented with a machine gun mounted on the upper wing, some machines received two recoilless 7.62 cm DRP / APK cannons from Leonid Wassiljewitsch Kurtschewski mounted on the upper wing.

In 1932 an I-4 was used for the first time to test 82 mm rocket projectiles developed by the Gasdynamisches Laboratorium (GDL) . After the GDL merged with the Rocket Research Institute (RNII), the experiments were continued in 1935; the Katyusha bullets emerged from them .

A planned float version I-4P was abandoned in 1931.

description

The I-4 was constructed entirely of metal, the cladding was made of corrugated dural sheet. The two-part upper wing had three spars, was mounted on a brace frame and attached to the fuselage with two strut straps and to the extremely short lower wing with two V-handles. The profile thickness was 16% for the struts and 12% at the ends. The rigid landing gear had a continuous axle and a tail spur.

Technical specifications

Tupolev I-4

Parameter	Data
span	Upper wing 11.40 m lower wing 5.70 m
length	7.28 m
height	3.40 m
Wing area	Upper wing 19.80 m² Lower wing 4.0 m²
Preparation mass	978 kg
Takeoff mass	1430 kg
drive	a 9-cylinder radial engine M-22
power	353 kW (480 hp)
Top speed	220 km / h near the ground, 231 km / h at 5000 m altitude
Rise time	14.3 min at 5000 m altitude
Summit height	7000 m
Flight duration	3.3 h
Range	580 km
Duration of a full curve	12.1 s
crew	1
Armament	two 7.62mm MG PW-1 four 50kg bombs

literature

• Vadim B. Schawrow : On the history of Soviet aircraft construction. Aircraft constructions in the years of socialist industrialization (1) . In: Flyer calendar of the GDR 1979 . Military Publishing House , Berlin 1978, p. 176-178 .
• Wilfried Copenhagen : Soviet fighters . Transpress, Berlin 1985.
• Karl-Heinz Eyermann : The aviation of the USSR 1917-1977 . Transpress, Berlin 1977.
• Peter Stache: Fighter planes by A. N. Tupolew part 1 . In: Flieger Revue . No. 1 , 1970.
• Peter Stache: Fighter planes by A. N. Tupolew part 2 . In: Flieger Revue . No. 2 , 1970.

Web links

Commons : Tupolev I-4  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Peter Stache: Soviet missiles in the service of science and defense . Military Publishing House of the GDR , Berlin 1987, ISBN 3-327-00302-5 , p. 72-74 .